BA extends short-haul hand baggage only fares

British Airways is extending its hand baggage only fares to passengers at Heathrow and London City airports.

The carrier introduced the new fare option at Gatwick earlier this year (see news, February 19), initially on five short-haul routes to Amsterdam, Dubrovnik, Jersey, Tunis and Turin.

This was then extended to all of BA's 32 routes from Gatwick (see news, March 12).

Now, the airline is introducing the fare for travel from September 24 between Heathrow and nine short-haul destinations — Amsterdam, Stockholm, Barcelona, Paris (Charles de Gaulle and Orly), Rome, Rotterdam, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Lower fares for hand baggage-only customers will also be available from London City to Amsterdam, Stockholm, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Fares will typically be £20 cheaper for a return ticket or £10 one way, BA said.

Passengers choosing the hand baggage-only fare can carry on a case measuring up to 56cm x 45cm x 25cm, plus a handbag or laptop bag.

Robin Glover-Faure, BA's head of short-haul, said: "The hand baggage-only fare at Gatwick has proved very popular with our customers so we're now introducing it on a selected number of short-haul routes from Heathrow and London City.

"If it proves as successful, we plan to roll it out across the whole short-haul network in the coming months."